Closing Out 2013

So, the year the that was supposed to wipe out mankind has come to a close. I spent a good night in the Lower East Side with Danny Diablo for another annual Diablofest Event. The crowd was rocked by a mix from Meyhem Lauren to the Cromags. Diablo had an eclectic crew of graffiti artists there and even a barber chair set up where celebrity barber Mike Gallo (Agnostic Front) cut hair. Being a drummer, I decided to dedicate this photo set to all the great drummers that played that night. 

Mike Gallo

Lucas (Manipulate)

Shannon (Wisdom in Chains)

Rigg Ross (Danny Diablo)

Mackie Jason (The Cromags)

The Cromags

Hollywood Bound

I spent some time on the west coast working on a new writing project- it's a an American Slasher horror movie that I'm co-writing with a partner (I'll keep his name silent for now). I also got to hang on set with the Misun's as Lani Lee took photos of the band in Agora HIlls, California. Some BTS photos below. The day was pretty rad. Oh, yes...can't forget. I made it home in time to catch Slayer at the Garden...

Misun getting fixed up by Melissa Abad

Lani Lee shooting Misun

Lani Lee giving 110%

The Writer's Room in Silver Lake

Slayer at the Garden

A Month of Music

October in NYC may be the month people think about Halloween, but in the music business it is the crunch of CMJ that keeps me busy. We represented a few artists this year that will be making an big impact in 2014. It all begins in the winter months before the year is begins. 1:10 Artist Management's electro Pop Rock band Misun played 8 shows in 5 days during the music fest and Le Trouble flew in from Canada to rock 3 shows in one day. Eye Ra Haze shredded for a sold out crowd at Santos Party House taking the stage with Killswitch Engage playing a show for the Fuck Cancer organization. It was packed month with good vibes and great music.

Misun @ the Soho House

Will from Misun

Jon from Misun

Andrew "Nacey" from Misun

Le Trouble at Rockwood Music Hall

Le Trouble at Rockwood Music Hall

Nicole from Eye Ra Haze

Eye Ra Haze @ Santos Party House

From Music Row to the Brooklyn Waterfront

This month I went down to music City, Nashville Tennessee so Eye Ra Haze could begin demoing new songs for a 2014 release. They worked with Platinum awarded producer Jasen Rauch (Korn/Red/Breaking Benjamin) The trip was a good blend of work and pleasure and a lot of great songs were made down there.

Eye Ra Haze with Jasen Rauch

Back in Brooklyn I produced the music side of a beer festival in Williamsburg. It is called Brooktober Fest and it was an awesome waterfront location with great tunes, craft beer and some good bar food vendors. The headliner was J Roddy Walston and the Business. Look out for the event next year if you like drinking booze on the water in NYC while watching live bands jam.

Brooktober Fest View

J. Roddy Walston & The Business

J. Roddy Walston & The Business

Eye of the Storm

Last month a new music video I directed for Eye Ra Haze was featured on Revolver.com The band released their first EP "Eye of the Storm" to all digital stores. Summer months in the NYC are best spent at backyard BBQ's and for me on trips out to Long Beach. I did a god amount of both hanging with friends and getting away from the work flow, even if only for a few hours a day. Check out the video below and some pics from the month.

Rancid, Translplants & Crown of Thornz kicked off my summer.

Artist management has its privileges. After all the hard work of sets ups, phone calls, emails, and packaging you will get a chance to do the fun stuff too if you have the right connections. 1:10 A.M. artist Crown of Thornz got the opportunity to tour with one of my favorite bands, Rancid. I took some time away from writing and met them on the road for a string of shows. The value of this band has only increased since I was younger. for anyone out there that loves punk, I urge you to make a show when this band is near or far from you.

Travis Barker (Transplants/Blink182) working with his daughter 2 ft. away

Matty Pasta (Crown of Thornz)

Travis Barker & Tim Armstrong (Transplants)

Tim  & Lars (Rancid)

Jeff "Raised FIst" - Tim Armstrong &yours truly

It got Better

I love some of the people I work with in the music business. Cuz Joe and Freddy Madball of Black n Blue productions have built an amazing brand in Hardcore with the annual BNB Bowl. Last year I thought it couldn't be done any bigger and this year they did something unimaginable. They made it twice as big. They sold out Webster Hall for the weekend with the reunion of Hardcore legends Judge. The weekend was kicked off at Santos Party House where Danny Diablo threw his annual "ill Roc bum rush" show. That was headlined by Skarhead and Bulldoze. The rest of the weekend was a giant party with moshing, east village food and after party's in the LES. A real hardcore extravaganza.Check out some pics I snapped below.

Mike Judge

Webster Hall BnB Bowl 2013

Hoya Roc (Madball)

Lord Ezec watches as Mackie Jayson (Cromags) schools Rigg Ross (Crown of Thronz)

Eye Ra Haze girls with photographer Lani Lee

Frank 151 and the Lower Left

Last month I ran around the city a lot. I hope to get some more writing work done before the summer begins because I can feel a lot of good parties an vibes coming in the very near future. I spent a fun evening at the Bowery hotel for the Frank 151 Chapter 51 book release Party. It was put together by the books publicist Sydney Reising who did a great job at making sure everyone was having a good time. Got to hang with Estevan Oriol that night and meet some really great people in the industry.

Ricky Powell & Stephen Malbon

Myself - Lysa Cooper - Estevan Oriol

A week later I swung by Wooster Social club to hang with my west coast homie Bobby Tribal where he and Luke Wessman curated a showing of West Coast art work. Some of the heavy hitters included: Risk, OG Abel, Chuey Quintanar, Sal Elias, Maxx 242, Franco Vescovi, Tim Hendricks, Carlos Torres, Steve Soto, Placaso, and of course Estevan Oriol. It was a big party with a group of people you dont get to see in lower Manhattan everyday. They should definitely do that event again soon.